Slide-glide-plug door mechanism



Aus. 26, 1969 RJ. LYNN UAL 3,462,881

SLIDE-GLIDE-PLUG DOOR MECHANISM v Filed vMarcizl'l 14, 1968 4Sheets-Sheet l KRISTU FAY DAUGIRDAS ATTORNEY n. J. LYNN ETALSLIDE-GLIDB-PLUG DOOR MECHANISM Aug. 26, 1969 Filed March 14. 1968 4Sheets-Sheet 2 NOE INVENTORS ROBERT J. LYNN KRlSTUPAS DAUGIRDAS @Y mmATTO RN EY AUS 26, 1969 l R. J. LYNN ETAL .3,462,881

SLIDE-GLIDEPLUG DOOR MECHANISM Filed March 14 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

M v i i DOOR OPENIN INVENTORS ROBERT J. LYNN KRISTUP AU IRDAS BY glue U'ATTORNEY Aug. y26, 1969 R, J, LYNN ETAL 3,462,881 SLIDE-GLIDEPLUG DoonMECHANISM Filed uarcn 14, 1968 4 sheets-sheet 4 FRIR ART DOOR OPENrNQlNVENTORS ROBERT J. LYNN v /KFUST P s D UGIRDAS BYl/C l. 1 e

ATTORNEY United States Patent i 3,462,831 SLiDE-GMDE-PLUG DUR Robert I.Lynn, Morton Grove, and Kristupas Will-nette, ill., assignors to VaporCorporation,

lll., a corporation of Delaware MECHANESM Daugirdas, Chicago,

Filed Mar. 14, 1968, Ser. No. 713,224 lut., Cl. Etif 17/00, 7/06 US. Cl.49-111 7 `Clairrls ABSTRACT F THE DESCLUSURE Mechanism for driving adoor through compound movement between open and closed positionsincluding imparting to the door a slide-glide-plug action by actuationof a shaft and lever assembly and guidance from a track unit.

This invention relates in general to a door opening and closingmechanism especially useful for vehicles that transport passengers, andmore particularly to a door operating mechanism capable of imparting aslide-glide-plug movement to a door of a vehicle.

Heretofore, mechanisms for controlling door operation in vehicles thattransport passengers have taken many forms. These vehicles, whichinclude buses and railway cars, are provided with openings to permitingress and egress of passengers, which openings are normally providedwith a plurality of door leaves. Generally a pair of door leaves areprovided for each door opening. Doors having a swinging movement abouthinges are objectionable in that when they are open they obstruct thepassageway. Sliding doors are either outside hung and therefore projectbeyond the perimeter of the vehicle presenting a poor aestheticappearance, or are inside hung thereby allowing a portion of the dooropening to be exposed when the doors are closed. Further, sliding doorsrequire pockets for receiving the doors when they are in open position.Also conventional sliding doors are difficult to seal. Doors mounted fora sliding and guiding movement have employed a straight trackarrangement where the leading edge of the door in certain positions hasa motion that is beyond the seal at the door closed position, therebycausing as the door moves to and into closed position the rubber edge ofthe door to bend and rub against the more solid seal of thc opening inthe vehicle, and such rubbing action is injurious to the rubber partsthereby shortening their life.

The door operating mechanism of the present invention overcomes theobjections of heretofore known mechanisms in that a slide-glide-plugaction is imparted to the door which obtains a better sealing actionrelative to the door opening, and encounters rubbing action relative tothe rubber sealing parts during plugging action to thereby extend thelife of the rubber parts. Moreover, the door operating mechanism of thepresent invention enables the doors to be ush with the outer surface ofthe car when in closed position, thereby enabling the doors to becontoured or straight to match the outer car or vehicle walls. Duringoperation of the door mechanism of the present invention, the door ismoved through a compound movement laterally and longitudinally relativethe car or vehicle wall swinging through 90 rotation and taking aposition at right angles to the car wall in fully opened position.Engagement of the sealing members on the door is encountered only at thevery end of the closing cycle during the plugging action of the doorthereby eliminating the sliding and scraping action of the door sealswhen almost closed, and eliminating undue wear.

The mechanism of the present invention includes a shaft and leverassembly having a vertical shaft pivoted at oppo- 3,462,831 PatentedAug. 26, 1969 site ends to the frame of the car and attached to the doorby means of levers that are fixed for rotation with the shaft butpivotally connected to the door. A roller is also mounted on the doorand guided in a track unit that conditions the position of the door asit is swung by the shaft and lever assembly to obtain theslide-glide-plug action. This track includes a straight portion that isinclined relative to the door in closed position and a curved portionthat provides the proper plugging action.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved door operating mechanism for vehicles that transport passengersto impart a slide-glide-plug movement to the door.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of a door mechanismfor operating a door between open and closed positions that employsrubber sealing members, wherein the door action is such as to virtuallyeliminate the sliding and scraping action of the seals in the closingcycle, thereby substantially eliminating undue wear of the Wheels.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of adoor operating mechanism for controlling the movement of doors invehicles transporting passengers, whereby the mechanism causes the doorto move through a lateral and longitudinal compound movement, andenables the door to be flush with the outer surface of the vehicle inclosed position so that the outer surface of the door may be contouredor straight to match the outer vehicle walls.

A further object of this invention is in the provision of a dooroperating mechanism for vehicles that transport passengers thatincorporates the features of a sliding door, a swinging door, and aplugging door, while eliminating many of the disadvantages of thesedoors.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed disclosure taken in conjunction with theaccompanying sheetsy o: drawings, wherein like reference numerals referto likt parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical elevational view of a pair of doo leaves having thedoor operating mechanism of the presen invention, wherein this view issomewhat fragmentary ani broken away for purposes of clarity, and takengenerali along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FlG. 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view of th door operatingmechanism of the present invention, wit some parts fragmentary and otherparts in dotted for pu poses of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a door movement diagram for the door opera ing mechanismaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a door movement diagram for a door opere ing mechanism of theprior art for illustrating the a vantages of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FI 1, a pair of doorleaves 10 and 11 are illustrated for sel tively opening and closing 12in a passen; vehicle or car. While the door opening 12 is illustratedbeing selectively opened or closed by a pair of door leav it should beappreciated that a single door leaf might employed. Normally it ispreferred that a pair of d( leaves are used 1n view of the size of thedoor openi The door operating mechanism is generally designated thenumeral 13, and includes lever and shaft assemb 14 and 14A, trackguiding means 15 and 15A, and a d operator 16.

The lever and shaft assemblies 14 and 14A serve to s port the doorleaves 10 and 11 and to drive the door le: between open and closedposition as guided by the t1 guiding means 15 and 15A. Each lever andshaft ass bly includes a vertically extending shaft 17 pivotally portedat its upper and lower ends by suitable means,

upper and lower levers 18 and 19 secured to and rotatable with the shaft17,

points of pivot connection and along a line that is parallel to theshaft 17.

The lever and shaft assemblies are driven by the door operator 16 whichincludes generally a reversible electric mounted door. Similarly, adriving link 34 may be pivotally mounted on the single acting crank arm29 of the lever and shaft assembly 14A for further connection to a leverand shaft assembly of another door leaf.

The pivot point connection 20 for the door leaf 11 is 4o reverseposition, a guide track 7A controls movement of the door leaf 11 duringopera- `on of the lever and shaft assembly 14A which is synand shaftassemdoor leaves 10 and 11 in closed sinon substantially seal theopening 12, and accord- :ly llexible rubber strips 3S and 39 areprovided on op- Similarly, rubber g tlexible strip may be suspended fromthe bottom of 75 the door leaves. The present invention avoids unduewear on the rubber strips by virtue of the closing action imparted tothe door leaves which is guided by the guide tracks 37 and 37A.

door takes position 20a while the closed position of the door takes theposition 201'. Intermediate the open and closed positions of the door,the pivot connection 20 takes straight run portion 37A extends angularlyrelative to the door in its closed position 11i, whereby the end of thestraight run portion connecting to the arcuate run portion is spacedcloser to the door leaf in closed position and also may be termed aplugging arcuate run portion 37B may portion of the track 37. The of thedoor leaf which would are not present here because of at a substantiallyuniform distance from the seal of the movement action commences atposition 11d and follows through position 11f. At position 11g, it canbe seen that the door leaf is almost closed in the longitudinaldirection and motion has now started in the lateral, or pluggingdirection. The velacity of the door leaf as it plugs is slowed downconsiderably, in combination with conventional movement, which resultsin a ement of the door leaf before closing and seal- A comparison of thepresent invention relative to the heretofore known straight trackarrangement may be position. Actually the rubber edge of the door bendsand rubs against the more solid seal of the openinfY in the carstructure at these points. This rubbing action is to the rubber parts,and shortens the life of them and especially the rubber cap at the topof the door.

In view of the foregoing, it can be readily appreciated that theslide-glide-plug action defined by the door closing mechanism 4accordingto the present invention, while incorporating the features of a slidingdoor, a swinging door and a plugging door, eliminates many of thedisadvantages of the respective actions of these doors, and ultimatelyprovides a door closing action that virtually eliminates the sliding andscraping action of the door seals when almost closed.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may he effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention, but it is understood that this application is to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a vehicle having a door opening in the vehicle wall selectivelyopened and closed by at least one door leaf, a mechanism for opening andclosing the door leaf relative thefdoor opening to cause the door leafto be moved through a compound movement laterally and longitudinally ofthe vehicle wall swinging through 90 rotation .and becoming at rightangles to the wall in the fully opened position, said mechanismincluding a lever and shaft assembly having a rotatively mountedvertical shaft and lever means extending therefrom and rotatabletherewith, said lever means being pivotally connected to said door leaf,a roller mounted on said door leaf in spaced relation to said levermeans pivot, a track mounted on the vehicle adjacent the door forguidably receiving the roller, said track being shaped to provide aslide-glide-plug action and including a long straight portion and ashort curvate portion, the convex side of said curvate portion facingthe door leaf in closed position, said straight portion being inclinedrelative the door leaf in closed position at an angle less than 90wherein the end closest to the door leaf is the end closest to the edgeof the door leaf leading during its closing cycle, a door operatorhaving an output shaft, and linkage interconnecting said output shaftand vertical shaft to drive the door between open and closed positionsas guided by said track.

2. The combination as dened in claim 1, wherein said lever meansincludes a pair of spaced levers secured to said shaft and pivotally tosaid door leaf at the upper and lower ends thereof.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said track is mountedAabove said door.

4. In a vehicle having a door opening in a side wall and a pair of doorleaves operable between closed positiony to close the opening and openposition to open the opening, a mechanism for driving said door leavesbetween open and closed positions and through a compound movementlaterally and longitudinally of the side wall swinging through rotationand the leaves becoming at right angles to the wall one at each of theupright edges of the opening in the fully opened position, saidmechanism including a lever and shaft assembly for each door leaf havinga pivotally mounted upright shaft and lever means secured thereto forrotation therewith extending toward said door leaf and pivotallyconnected thereto at its free end, guide means mounted on said vehicleadjacent each door leaf, follower means on each said door guidablycoacting with each said guide means, each said guide means controllingeach door leaf movement to provide a slideglide-plug action andincluding a long straight portion and a short curvate portion, theconvex side of said curvate portion facing the door leaf in closedposition, said straight portion being inclined relative the door leaf inclosed position at an angle less than 90 wherein the end closest to thedoor leaf is the end closest to the edge of the door leaf leading duringits closing cycle, a door operator having an output shaft, and linkageinterconnecting said output shaft and the shafts of said lever and shaftassemblies.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said guide means ismounted above said door.

6. The combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said lever means foreach door leaf includes a pair of levers secured to the respectiveshafts and pivotally to the respective door leaves at the upper andlower ends thereof.

7. The combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said guide means arearranged in opposed relation for the respective door leaves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1916 Hild et al. 49--252 X 4/1966 Catlett 49-252 X U.S. Cl. X.R. 4'9--252

